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    Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.

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    Author
    Bos, N; Grinsted, L; Holman, L
    Date
    2011-04-29
    Source Title
    PLoS One
    Publisher
    Public Library of Science (PLoS)
    University of Melbourne Author/s
    Holman, Luke
    Affiliation
    School of BioSciences
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Document Type
    Journal Article
    Citations
    Bos, N., Grinsted, L. & Holman, L. (2011). Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.. PLoS One, 6 (4), pp.e19435-. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019435.
    Access Status
    Open Access
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11343/255776
    DOI
    10.1371/journal.pone.0019435
    Open Access at PMC
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3084846
    Abstract
    Social animals use recognition cues to discriminate between group members and non-members. These recognition cues may be conceptualized as a label, which is compared to a neural representation of acceptable cue combinations termed the template. In ants and other social insects, the label consists of a waxy layer of colony-specific hydrocarbons on the body surface. Genetic and environmental differences between colony members may confound recognition and social cohesion, so many species perform behaviors that homogenize the odor label, such as mouth-to-mouth feeding and allogrooming. Here, we test for another mechanism of cue exchange: indirect transfer of cuticular hydrocarbons via the nest material. Using a combination of chemical analysis and behavioral experiments with Camponotus aethiops ants, we show that nest soil indirectly transfers hydrocarbons between ants and affects recognition behavior. We also found evidence that olfactory cues on the nest soil influence nestmate recognition, but this effect was not observed in all colonies. These results demonstrate that cuticular hydrocarbons deposited on the nest soil are important in creating uniformity in the odor label and may also contribute to the template.

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